A group that began with the mission to promote Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day in Ionia County is still going strong five years later.

The Ionia County Peace Community, which meets monthly, is planning its fifth annual marking of Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service on Monday, and is inviting the entire community to get involved.

Again this year, the event will kick off on Sunday with a Community Potluck Supper, beginning at 5 p.m. at Ionia First United Methodist Church, located at 105 E. Main St. The theme of the supper also is the motto of the peace community: "Many cultures, one community, one world."

The goal of the supper is recognize and appreciate the community's diversity and interdependence, and to use the different gifts everyone has to enrich the whole, said Penny Beeman of the Ionia County Peace Community.

"Diversity isn't only based on the color of your skin. There's diverse groups based on money, what your last name is, or who your parents were," Beeman said. "There are all kinds of different groups and cliques. Cliques are not just a high-school thing. This event is designed to bring all these groups together, to break down those walls and help accomplish something together."

Everyone in the community is invited to come to the dinner and encouraged to bring a dish to pass that represents their family's culture, no matter whether it is an ethnic or regional dish, or simply a family favorite. Community members also can share their culture by wearing traditional clothing, sharing their language, or bringing music, art, artifacts or stories. Those who attend the potluck may wish to explain about their dish, dress or cultural item, but that is not required.

Following the supper, there will be a gathering with music, singing and reflections on memorable social and cultural events over the past 50 years, such as King's "Letter from a Birmingham Jail" and his "I Have a Dream" speech, both of have their 50-year anniversaries this year. There also will be a time of silence and prayer for the victims of the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.

Child care will be available with children's activities, so that families feel welcome to attend with their children.

"We wanted to make the dinner accessible and comfortable for everyone," said Amy Buckingham of the peace community. "Children can be in the child care room if they want to, but it's not mandatory. They are all a part of the community and they are welcome to stay with us."

Moving the event from church to church each year is done on purpose, said Beeman, who explained that people sometimes feel more comfortable staying with their church "clique," and think they can only support what their church supports.

Page 2 of 3 - "When we move it around, people see that they all have similar beliefs to make a difference in their community or to give back. No matter what your religious views are, they are all trying to help their neighbor," she said. "By being able to host the event in a different church each year, it's allowing people to be able to understand that. Traveling will make the event stronger."

On Monday, there will be four service projects community members can participate in. One is being a "Peace Reader," reading a book that shares the ideals of Martin Luther King Jr.'s to elementary school children and engaging them in a conversation about it. A second is attending a HandsOn Connect workshop to share with businesses, organizations, or nonprofits looking for ways to get involved in national Days of Service volunteer events. A third is building and staining eight park benches for area community gardens. A fourth is making homemade laundry soap for local food pantries. More information about each of the projects and locations is listed on the peace community website, ioniacountypeacecommunity.org.

The service projects were chosen not because they are unique, but because they will help make a difference in community programs already in existence, said Beeman. Planners hope the projects will attract a new group of volunteers who may have never helped out before.

"When we think of helping food pantries, we think they want money and a food drive, which is important. But laundry soap is one of the biggest needs they have," she said. "Making laundry soap is an easy project to satisfy that need, and we are reaching out to a population to help that may never have done that in the past. With more volunteers, we can get it done quicker and serve more people."

Likewise, Beeman said, when people think of community gardens, they imagine digging in the dirt, planting seeds and harvesting produce.

"Building benches will support the community gardens, and reach out to volunteers who aren't gardeners but who like working with wood," she said. "The aim is to reach out to volunteers who have never been involved before."

The Ionia County Peace Community originally planned to meet just to organize the Martin Luther King Jr. Day event. But that changed when members realized the group could be so much more, both for each individual and for the community as a whole, said Buckingham.

"It's a place where we all are doing our best to be proactive in whatever area is our passion, and we all have different passions," she said. "We are really diverse ourselves in many ways."

Buckingham said everyone has something they want to make better, whether that is the environment, young children, people who don't have as much as other people, or making the community feel warm and welcoming.

Page 3 of 3 - "I truly feel people are looking for what is right in others and how do we do it all," she said. "We try to offer up what each one of us can do in support of each other's interest areas. It's all of us in our individual ways, saying these things aren't quite right. Can we do anything to make it all a little bit better – and what can we do? It's moving in a positive direction instead of negatively."

New member Nancy McLaughlin observed that people often act badly toward the unknown out of fear.

"If people go through every day only seeing the same things and same people they are used to, they remain fearful. A peace community event provides a way to address the unknown without fear," McLaughlin said. "Any day spent 'off,' kicking back and having peaceful thoughts about your fellow man, is a good thing. However, a day going out in the community and interacting can make those good thoughts spread and grow."